Prince George, B.C. – The annual August late night light show  called the Perseid Meteor shower,   will peak late Saturday night.Royal Astronomical Society – Prince George Centre President Blair Stunder says there is  a perfect way to describe what  the night sky will produce “Imagine driving through a snow storm with your high beams on.” 

The streaks of light  that will  race across the night sky are courtesy the trail of debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet. The light created as that debris creates an ionization trail when it enters Earth’s atmosphere.

There  are two things  that may impact just how good a show this will be.  The moon  will be 3/4 full,   and  the moonlight will  make it near impossible  to see the  fainter  meteors,   and then there is the  possibility of cloud cover.

None the less,  the  Observatory  on Tedford Road  will be open at 9  Saturday night  to welcome night sky watchers.   And Stunder says there will be a bonus celestial  sighting “At 9:30  to 10 o’clock, we will also be able to view Saturn in the  south skies  with the big scope until it gets dark enough to see the meteor shower.”

Last year, 250 showed up at the observatory  to watch the Perseid meteor shower.  Stunder says although the parking lot at the  Observatory has been increased,  parking is limited.  If you are not able to  head to the observatory,  head to an area  where there is not a lot of  light pollution,  bring along a lawn chair, (preferably one that reclines)  and look to the east, north east,  about 45 degrees above the horizon.

The Perseids have been   showing themselves  for the past week and a half  says Stunder, “But they have been pretty sporadic,  the peak point will be Saturday night into Sunday  morning.”